Report: Big bank settlements hit $128B

By: Mark Williams

The Columbus Dispatch - August 27, 2014 10:49 AM

The tab for all the settlements struck between the federal government and the nation's six
biggest banks stemming from the fallout of the credit and mortgage crisis has now hit $128
billion, according to SNL Financial.

The latest settlements involve Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. B of A agreed to a $16.55
billion settlement and that was followed by Goldman's $3.15 billion settlement.

The B of A settlement was the largest to come from the economic mess in which millions of people
lost their home to foreclosure.

The big banks made loans to homeowners and turned around and sold them to investors. The banks
represented the loans as safe, but many were made to borrowers who were unable to repay them. The
collapse of the housing market led to billions of dollars in losses and was a major factor in the
steep recession.